Dear friends,

As we approach the end of our fiscal year on June 30th, we’re reflecting on a season that’s been full of new collaborations, premieres, and meaningful connections with audiences around the world.

In just the past year, Sandbox has:

• Recorded a Tiny Desk Concert with NPR
• Toured Seven Pillars to new countries and new states: China, California, and beyond
• Premiered Bloom, a new hour-long work by Michael Torke
• Premiered Cogitations by Tyshawn Sorey with his trio at the Library of Congress, NJPAC, The Wexner Center for the Arts, and 92NY
• Partnered with Gandini Juggling for a genre-bending program at the ICA Boston
• Released our latest album with Christopher Cerrone
• Collaborated with incredible artists like Gabriel Kahane, Conor Hanick, Matthew Aucoin, and many more

And we’re just getting started. Looking ahead, we’re deep into the development of new projects with Vivian Fung, Andy Akiho, Gabriel Kahane, Viet Cuong, and David Crowell – artists who inspire us endlessly and who are helping shape the future of our work.

This month, we’re inviting everyone in our community to help us close out the year strong. If you’ve been moved by something we’ve made or shared, we hope you’ll consider making a gift. Every donation – no matter the size – directly supports the work we are building.

If you’re not able to make a donation but you’d like to support us in another way, seeing old and new faces at our concerts always means the world to us. We have some really exciting performances coming up in the next few weeks with the American Modern Opera Company (AMOC*) at Lincoln Center. 

On June 25th, we’re taking the stage with Matthew Aucoin and Conor Hannick to perform Dutch composer Simeon ten Holt’s Canto Ostinato. This work radiates the warmth, spaciousness, and a quiet luminosity and offers listeners a gorgeous exploration of minimalist music. 

Canto Ostinato with our 2024 SPS students and members of Metropolis Ensemble.

We’ll return to Lincoln Center a few weeks later on July 10th, 11th, and 12th to perform the New York premiere of Music for New Bodies by AMOC* Co-Founder Matthew Aucoin. This opera, directed by Peter Sellars, will be brought to life by five vocalists and an 18-instrument ensemble conducted by Aucoin. Music for New Bodies is inspired by the visionary poetry of Jorie Graham, addressing some of the most urgent questions of our time: In our quest for immortality, what have human beings done to the planet, and what are we doing to ourselves?

We’re also holding our tenth annual Sandbox Percussion Seminar this July, and we’re thrilled to have 45 students from all around the world coming to The New School to perform Andy Akiho’s Seven Pillars and a new work, Portal. We’ll perform our opening concert on July 16th which will feature the world premiere of two works from our 2025 Creator Mentorship Program collaborators, Chaar Jhilmilahatein (Four Shimmerings), by Arjan Singh and Harmony Round (mvt II and III), by Ted Babcock. On the 22nd, our seminar participants will perform works by Andy Akiho at our final seminar concert. Both performances are free and open to the public!

If you’re local to New York or you happen to be in town for these concerts, we’d love to see you. 

Thanks for being part of the Sandbox community.

-Ian, Jonny, Terry, and Victor